Knockout
by thir13enth
Summary: He was a professional eater. And she was a cook with a challenge. A story for anyone that appreciates a warm bowl of soup seasoned with a bit of romance. Naruto/Ayame
1. Challenge Accepted

**Inspiration always comes from the strangest places, and I thank Yahoo for having a random article about food contests on their homepage the time that I was visiting the site. I was originally going to be working on a sequel for Wrong Order because of its wild success, but this sudden random idea distracted me.**

**This is slightly alternated from the Naruverse. Ayame has never met Naruto, though her father has known Naruto. This will be given more detail during the story, but anyways, they're both assumed to be in their mid-twenties.**

**Whatever the case, enjoy.**

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><p>The ramen shop was completely full that chilly winter night, and even though the snowfall and wind was making the weather nasty and intolerable, Ichiraku was quite populous.<p>

"I'm just here to make sure that the money is going to the right people," said one civilian.

"I bet that he isn't going to make it," muttered another, but someone else beside him heard and began an argument about why the said 'he' _was _going to make it.

Ayame was nervous, sweating, and it wasn't because of the excessive heat and adrenaline that was building in the small shop.

The professional eater was in town. And apparently, he was here to win the challenge.

**afewyearsago**

"_Ayame," her father called from the kitchen during a late weekend shift._

"_Tou-san?" she responded and quickly slipped behind the curtains to meet her father._

"_It's time for me to teach you the Knockout."_

_The Knockout? The prized family secret! _

_She didn't understand why her father wanted to tell her that night. What spurred his sudden inspiration to pass on the family heirloom recipe? She was just eighteen; and she only had chopped vegetables and boiled water in the kitchen, since her father did everything else._

_Did he trust her that much?_

"_Why, Otou-san?"_

_He gave her a shrug and a smile and then beckoned her to come near. _

_She stepped a bit closer. She was only a few meters away from the pot, but the overwhelming aura of spice around the boiling soup was making her eyes water already. She could feel her cheeks burn and the sweat pop out of her skin._

"_Now, what makes my soup so spicy, Ayame?"_

"_The chilis," she replied, though she was sure that her father wanted another answer._

"_So why are the chilis so special?"_

_She hesitated. "Because we grow them in our own backyard, and we've been taking care of the same plant since the Knockout was invented in our family. They're special chilis; they're our own."_

_Her father gave her a smile and shook his head. "No, Ayame, it's not in the chilis themselves. It's the _time _that they are picked. The key is in when you pick the chili."_

**requiemofadream**

Silence took over Ichiraku and Ayame held her breath, her lungs constricting.

This was it. This was the moment.

He entered the shop with grace, wearing a light blue button down shirt and black tie with nice looking black pants. He took a seat, taking his tie in his right hand and loosening it by pulling it right and left.

He seemed right at home with the celebrity-like attention he was being given, a smug look across his aqua blue eyes as he scanned the audience that he had attracted to the dingy small ramen shop. He knew that he was being bet on; he knew that he was causing all the commotion; he loved the widespread rumors that had been spread around, and even though he said nothing of his plans, somehow off the grapevine, everyone knew that he was going to be here that day.

She saw this all in the arrogant way he slicked his blond hair back, and in his casual slouch.

Naruto Uzumaki.

**didntyouhear**

"_Hey pretty girl," said the patron after more than a couple of drinks._

_Ayame ignored the customer. She always dreaded the customers that couldn't handle what they ingested, and more often than not wished that the customers would just drink their drinks elsewhere._

_She had complained to her father many times to take sake and liquors off the menu, but her father insisted that this was something that increased businesses, and that it was better experience for her to be dealing with drunken men. _

_And even though she was now in charge of the menu, she kept the alcohol on the menu to respect her father._

"_I'm talking to you, chick."_

_She didn't turn around and continued to clean the bowls, slowly rubbing the ceramics with a soapy sponge, deciding to be a perfectionist for a while, so that she could take a much longer time to clean than normal._

_A long moment of awkward silence stemmed out of her intentionally ignoring, and eventually she heard a strange hushed whisper coming from the same man._

"_Hey. Did you hear?"_

_And though she would usually ignore this as well, because drunken men were known to say many ridiculous things, she, for some reason, found herself turning around._

"_Hear what?" she finally said, soapy plate and sponge still in hand._

"_You didn't hear?"_

_Ugh, why did she turn around in the first place? What was she thinking? That a drunk man's conversation would actually be worthwhile to listen to?_

_But before she could whip back around—_

"_He's coming," the man continued._

_Ayame's eyebrows narrowed. "Who?" she asked after a while._

"_You know…the guy."_

_Exasperated, she flipped her body around and returned to the sink. This was getting quite stup—_

"_The Eater," said he, and she almost dropped everything, but nothing was holding her jaw closed so her mouth fell slightly open._

_Him?_

"_He's coming in from across the continent…the professional eater…"_

_She already knew what the man was going to say next._

"_For the Challenge…"_

**yahtzee**

He was famous for eating. He had a blog and all that stuff, and yeah.

And now he was here to challenge the cooking. He was going to defeat the challenge and show that it was possible and stuff (and there's some kind of agonizing hatred against Naruto or something like that)

He sat down, as arrogantly as someone could sit down, with his elbows on the counter and expectant eyes, waiting, mocking.

She knew what he was going to order before he even said it.

"The Chili Combo Knockout, please."

She took a breath, and then replied, "That'll be prepared right away."

And then she quickly turned toward the kitchen, feeling his eyes burning her back. Stepping onto the white tiled floor, she walked slowly over to the pot of boiling water.

She had already been preparing the soup. Not physically, but she was mentally going over the exact recipe, and was rehearsing exactly how she was going to be doing this.

He wasn't just a contender. He was a critic.

She had to make sure everything was perfect, and that she didn't take too long on the order, and that she made it as spicy as she could ever.

No one could take the spice or quantity of The Chili Combo Knockout ramen. Everyone who could eat it all couldn't handle the spice. And everyone that could handle the spice couldn't eat it all.

But the situation was different here. And she was worried that Uzumaki would complete the challenge, and then dismiss the challenge as "over-rated."

That would completely ruin her business.

She saved the best peppers just for this. She prepared the best noodles just for this.

She'd better not mess it up. For the business's sake.

For her dad's sake.

"Enjoy," she said, but she could barely get her voice out in her fright, as she artfully placed the large bowl down on the counter, and slid chopsticks onto the rim.

"That I will to the best of my ability," Uzumaki responded, and Ayame could just feel the underlying contentiousness of his words.

This was it. This was her family's pride—riding on this one bowl of soup.

Uzumaki drew his right hand over the chopsticks.

"The time limit is 30 minutes," she squeaked.

His eyes, which were down at the noodles, examining and grading their quality even before he was eating, suddenly snapped up to meet her eyes.

"I know," he said dismissively, "Is there anything else I should know?"

She vigorously shook her head, and he returned his attention to the food.

She held her breath, as he held the chopsticks, poised.

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><p><strong>Hey, yo! Review time?<strong>

**thir13enth**


	2. Down to the Last Drop

**Thanks for the reviews guys! **

**I'm totally stoked because at the moment, I'm hosting an exchange student! Super fun, except I wish I wasn't so bogged down in work and being anti-social...**

**thir13enth**

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><p>It was the longest thirty minutes, whether it was because she held her breath or because she was completely nervous watching Uzumaki slurp noodles down like water, guzzling steaming spicy soup like it was cold water on a hot day.<p>

He already finished a third of the Knockout, and it slightly pissed her off how neatly he was eating too, despite his speed. This was really the work of a professional eater.

Just watching him drink down the soup probably warmed the entire ramen shop, against the light snowfall.

Uzumaki was now halfway through the bowl, and he hadn't even paused yet.

Did this mean that her father was beat? That his trademark recipe was beat? That the family pride was over? Their future was ruined!

Just a quarter of soup left!

Or perhaps it was because Ayame hadn't made the soup properly enough? Did the restaurant end at her as the weakest link in the chain?

Damn it! And Ayame was about to burst into tears right then and there.

Everything whirled into slow motion as she saw her family's heirloom soup be beat. What did she do wrong? What was she going to do to fix this dent in the business?

But it wasn't just her imagination that everything was turning slow.

She couldn't believe her eyes, but Uzumaki was actually slowing his pace of eating?

He had just a couple of inches of soup and noodle left to down…there was _no _way that his pace was going to slow so much that he wouldn't be able to finish—

The clatter of chopsticks against porcelain.

The utter of defeat: "I can't do it anymore."

Everything froze, and if she wasn't so surprised herself, she'd probably have heard all the gasps that were elicited from the watching audience, some of whom dropped their bet money as well as their jaws.

Silence held the air for a good minute, and then Uzumaki fixed his shirt and stood up, still holding a grandiose posture and swiftly walked off without a word and the faintest hint of a half-satiated smile across his face.

His eyes grazed across her eyes for a moment, a sign it wasn't going to be the last that she saw of him.

**starving**

She didn't hear anything the next day, but in the white silence she could just _feel _the gossip that was extending from last night's performance.

She didn't know whether to be wary or relieved.

She didn't like that smirk he had when he walked off.

But neither did he finish the soup.

Did this make her family pride untouchable? At least for now?

Or was this just going to encourage more contenders to come by and try out the Knockout? And make it harder for her thus?

"That soup must be pretty challenging then, huh?" asked one of her customers, who was chewing contently on some octopus in the meantime.

She laughed nervously, trying to act nonchalantly modest. "Oh yeah, I wouldn't dare to eat it myself!"

It wasn't headline news, but the defeat of Uzumaki, the professional eater, was well announced during the whispers and cupped hands of people in the village and beyond.

The very few that bet on Ayame's soup with faith became quite wealthy over a night, which eventually passed over to Ichiraku because of their glee and continuous drinking while thanking and encouraging her at the counter to keep doing what she's doing.

The entire meantime, she wasn't sure if what she was doing was all right. Sure, she held her family pride on this soup, but was she operating the rest of the business well? She barely got past Uzumaki; there had to be eaters that were more experienced and better than even Uzumaki as time progressed! What was she to do then!

Oh, how she wished her father was still here to advise her!

Ayame thoughtlessly cleaned the empty ramen bowl in her hand. To imagine that she was cleaning an empty bowl of Knockout (the Knockout was always served in a special bowl)! Thank god she has never had to yet! That bowl has never been cleaned empty! She must must keep it that way!

She flipped the porcelain over in her left hand, transferring the sponge over to the other side, the suds slipping over the bottom in the same manner a slick voice travelled over her left shoulder to her ear from behind her.

"Well at least I finished _that _bowl."

Gasping, she dropped the bowl into the sink, where it clanked while she turned around, soap bubbles and sponge at hand about to attack whoever had crept past the counter to the kitchen side.

She practically convulsed once more when she saw that this person that had silently stalked up behind her was—

"Uzumaki," she said, politely, before moving her wet hands to the side.

He breathed in while smiling and leaned back against the counter.

Which was fine, except that he was in employee territory.

"I have to admit that was a pretty hefty bowl," he said. "And all this time I thought it was just local talk."

She didn't know what to respond to that, but she wasn't exactly thrilled to see him either.

Why was he still here? Why was he talking to her?

She thought the whole event was over! She thought she never had to see him ever again!

"What are you doing here?" finally made it past her lips.

"Ah…feisty," he replied. "I just didn't know a cutie like you could make a killer soup like that. Where'd you get that kick from?"

Her eyebrows furrowed. Did he just imply that she wasn't worthy of holding the secret to a soup that was like that? Did he just imply that she wasn't capable of holding Ichiraku up herself? As a "cute" young woman?

"That's none of your business," she said, against his condescending attitude. "You should just leave. Your time here is done."

And when that was said, she added, "In fact, you had your chance here. You just blew it."

Something triggered in him, and she saw an angry spark fly in his electric blue eyes. "Yeah," he said, a few octaves lower, in masculine growl. "And _you _broke my record."

She wasn't going to let him intimidate her. "That's not my problem. You're just incompetent."

His eyebrows raised in disbelief.

Oh yeah, she just insulted him, she did.

"Listen," Ayame continued her assault. "I don't even know why you're still here. Leave this village. This place isn't yours."

His eyes were averted again and he muttered under her breath, but after years of training her hearing to catch orders, her ears had become quite acute.

"Thrown out by my own people again," he had commented.

Her eyes narrowed in curiousity. "What?"

He looked back at her, blue eyes passive, and suddenly, she realized he was actually hurt by what she had said previously. His eyes swerved off her orbs again to look to the side, as though he was confessing something.

"Believe it or not, I'm actually from here myself. I just decided to start travelling to other lands about five or six years ago to taste the different foods from all over the place. I became a wanderer."

She said nothing, but her face relaxed.

"Most kids would have dreamed of being Hokage in their own village. I probably would have felt that way, if I had a different fate, you know? But for some strange reason, I grew up feeling fine with the life of a nomad," he shifted his eyes to her direction without moving his face, still facing the side. "Probably has to do something with me not growing up with a family or some shit like that," he added.

She changed the subject. "How many places have you been in?"

"Just three, including Konohakagure."

Ayame was taken back for a few seconds. "Well…you're a slow traveler."

"Hm," he replied.

"Homesick? Is that why you came back?"

His eyes met hers briefly again. "I thought I'd be able to see your father or something."

An 'oh' barely rolled off her tongue.

And then she didn't know what to say.

"I'm sorry he's gone. I, um, didn't know until I stopped by yesterday."

Ayame shook her head, "Oh no, it's okay. I just didn't know my dad had more than just acquaintances here. I mean, most of the people he knew were just customers and nothing more. He was always too busy to interact much."

"So I guess you took control of Ichiraku after him."

"Yes," she said, and then continued after a moment. "I was at first very discouraged to follow the same route that the rest of my family did but I came back from my studies last year."

"Ah," Uzumaki remarked, then after a bit of silence, he said, "Well, that would be all my business here." And he quickly hopped over the counter, giving her a quick smile.

She pondered for a second.

"Wait, so you didn't just come here to beat the soup?" she asked.

But he was already out under the curtains, winter air slipping indoors instead.

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><p><strong>:3 Review for the cat face?<strong>

**thir13enth**


	3. A Pinch of Extra Trouble

**Wow, that last cat face really worked, lmao. Thank you for all the support readers! I haven't been around in the past few months, but that was because I was quite busy…and I'm preventing that from happening over the next few months!**

**thir13enth**

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><p>Ayame still felt the gossip about her soup defeating Uzumaki in the air, but at this point, she was more concerned about Uzumaki's comments from yesterday.<p>

Had she been wrong to assume that he was just there to ruin her family business? She was clearly unaware that Uzumaki was actually to hear from her father.

Her father…

"Shrimp teriyaki with rice noodles please! And please add extra sauce! You know how I like my soup salty," ordered someone.

Her head snapped up from thought, instantly recognizing the salt love and the voice. "Coming right up, Mouri-san!"

"Ahh! Before you get into the kitchen, also egg drop style with chili for me?"

"As quickly as possible, Hiraguchi-san."

She stepped back into the kitchen, checking quickly for any other waiting customers, and noticed the flap of the curtain. Since she was a bit shorter than the males in there, she could only see blond hair—

Uzumaki.

"I-I'll get to you soon," she apologized briefly. Why the hell was Uzumaki here again? She had thought the only business he had here was to greet her father?

Ichiraku stirred quiet, except for the sound of Ayame's knife—probably because Uzumaki was there, and the villagers probably weren't expecting to see the loser after the Knockout.

She tossed the two orders to the gentlemen, and then turned to Uzumaki.

"Good afternoon, Uzumaki-san," she said curtly.

He gave her a nod, and said, "I'd like—"

"AYAME-CHAN!" a ferocious looking lady barged in. "I need food for all my children now! They're late for their performance and I hadn't made them lunch and—"

"Okay, okay! I'll take all their orders."

So she did and raced into the kitchen after giving Uzumaki a brief apologetic eye glance, later returning with four take-away soups.

"Mommy! I don't like these green vegetable things on top of the soup!"

"I want more noodles!"

And Ayame took back the soups of the complaining kids to fix them before the lady could even say a word. As she stepped back behind the counter, a group of three teenagers waltzed in, looking quite hungry.

"Two chicken ramen; one with saury on the side and the other with roasted eggplant, and one spicy beef with extra mushrooms, please!" announced one.

"Yes, yes, right away!" Ayame quickly memorized this and hurried back into the kitchen.

She placed the two kid orders on the nearest counter by the boiling pot of noodles, and hurried over to gather the meats that were demanded. As she stepped back after placing the meat into their respective pots, she whirled back around to deal with correcting the children's orders when she suddenly noticed someone else was flipping open the lid for one of them.

"U-Uzumaki!" she exclaimed, half surprised and half angry. "What are you doing back here?"

"You obviously need help. And I'm kind of hungry," he replied simply, beginning to pick out the green onion that was sprinkled on top of one of the kid's orders with a set of chopsticks that he picked up.

"Those chopsticks are for the noodles!" she remarked, snatching the pair out of his hands.

"A thank you would have sufficed," Uzumaki replied, pulling back his hand above her reach.

"Uzumaki, please, just get back behind the counter," she said, her eyebrows furrowing as she leaned against him on the tips of her toes to try to reach the chopsticks.

"I'm going to help you," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder and pushing her back a step. "Just do what you need to do and I'll do the simple stuff you tell me to do."

"Get out. Is that simple enough for you?"

"Oh, please, Ayame-chan, I didn't think you looked like someone with a sharp tongue."

"Uzumaki, you really don't need to be here—"

"At least let me just help you out a bit, for your father's sake."

She took a deep breath, and submitted. "Fine, just go boil three eggs for me, please."

"Alright," he said, drawing out the word as he headed toward the refrigerator, placing the chopsticks into her hands.

She sighed and quickly fixed the children's orders, stepping up the counter again and then cleaning up the leftover bowls while she was at it.

When she shuffled back into the kitchen, Uzumaki was holding three eggs in his hands.

"Um, so, I just drop these eggs into water right?"

**yuebanyueman**

"Surely you can chop carrots," Ayame suggested.

"Where's the knife?" he asked, after a few minutes.

She passed by and gave it to him.

"Do I peel the skin off first?"

"Oy. Uzumaki-san, I'm sorry, but honestly you're making it more hectic by helping," she admitted, placing her hands on her hips.

"So I can't cook," he agreed. "But there has to be _something _I can help you out with."

"Ah," she suddenly remembered. "You can go take orders."

**onlyafewmomentslater**

"Where's the pretty lady that's usually here? She remembers our orders!"

"Well she's a bit busy, so deal with it!"

"At least be a good substitute for her!"

"I'm sorry I couldn't take your orders perfectly because you weren't talking clearly enough!"

Ayame burst out of the kitchen and grabbed Uzumaki by the sleeve, dragging him into the kitchen.

"What's going on?" she demanded, looking like she was about to choke him.

"Just some complaining customers."

"No," she retorted. "You're just not doing a good job!"

Uzumaki put out his hands in exasperation. "What did I do wron—"

"Everything!" she growled in frustration. "You're not helping _at all!_"

"I'm sorry! I just wanted to help!"

Ayame massaged her forehead. "Uzumaki-san," she said, regaining her composure. "Then please take a seat. Don't bother doing anything."

Uzumaki, like a dog with its tail between its legs, took a seat on a nearby chair.

She breathed in and out in a quick meditation and then set out to work at the counter, apologizing to the customers there, and retaking their orders.

When she came back into the kitchen, she saw Uzumaki stirring water over the stove.

"Uzumaki! I thought—" and then she saw that he had made egg drop soup that one of the customers recently ordered.

"I, uh, wow, thank you."

He gave her a wide grin and a thumbs up. "I _can_ help you, believe it!"

"How did you know this was one of the orders?"

"Well I overheard you talking to them and one of them wanted ramen with boiled egg."

Her smile faltered. "Uzumaki-san…"

"Yes, Ayame-chan?"

"That's not how you boil an egg."

**twoleftsmakearight**

"So, is every day that commotional?" Uzumaki asked, as they turned off the lights to the Ichiraku, doing a second check on the locks of the doors to the restaurant.

"Yeah," Ayame admitted.

He replied nothing, and she wrapped herself more securely into her jacket before stepping out into the light snowfall.

The two of them stood outside there for a while.

"It came to be more work," she added, and the clarified, "after…" and faded, thinking he got the idea.

"Your father's death," he asked with a statement.

"Yeah."

Silence ensued for a while, and Ayame suddenly asked, "So, you didn't just come here just to ruin the restaurant's reputation, right?"

Uzumaki gave her some kind of a disbelieved smile, one that asked something along the lines of 'don't you trust me?', and said, "I already told you that I wanted to see your old man. And when I realized he's not here anymore, I just wanted to taste the soup to see if it was still as good as it always had been." And then he added, "You know, if Ichiraku is still good even though the old man isn't here."

Ayame looked away and off into the snow, "My family pride is this shop. I wouldn't ever let that happen." She stood awkwardly in the cold. "Actually, I thought you were coming to ruin us."

"Well, the soup didn't falter in performance though," Uzumaki complimented.

She only smiled, not sure of what to say to this.

"Otou-san gave me the recipe before passing," she explained, after a moment. "I was actually surprised that he did. I, um, didn't join the family business until about a year ago."

He nodded, "You went off to study, right?"

"Mhm," she agreed. "I helped around when I was younger, like 12 or something, but I left to go to school because a lot of the kids that I met around town and the neighbors were doing that. I wanted to be the first one in my family to do something other than ramen. But then I came back…because…I realized that there were more important things than being 'original,' and that I was still a unique and contributing member of my family even if I just stayed to help out with the restaurant." She took a deep breath, having never before told a story to an audience—mostly because she was slightly ashamed that she was so naïve.

"Anyways, my father needed help, since he was the only one running the restaurant, especially since my mother divorced him and moved away," Ayame continued. "I was feeling very guilty and unsatisfied, even with a bachelor's degree. I thought that studying would bring myself happiness, but it was just a childhood dream that I was keeping onto and forcing myself to fulfill, even though my values had long since changed.

"So I came back to Ichiraku last year and started working again," she finished.

Uzumaki nodded again. "So what did you end up getting a degree in anyway?"

"Culinary arts," she replied with a smile. "Seems cooking was a passion of mine. No wonder I felt like I was missing something while I was away."

He gave out a short amused laugh.

"But, uh, I guess the business has been hard ever since he left."

When she finished her story, Uzumaki considered for a moment.

"I'm going to help you," he declared.

"What?" she asked in a gulp.

"I love ramen too much for me to ever let my favorite place shut down. I can just take a break from my travels. The demise of ramen won't happen, not under my watch."

Ayame couldn't help but smile. "Well, thank you, Uzumaki-san."

"Naruto. Call me Naruto, please."

**anextrahand**

"So this is the shop with the Chili Combo Knockout?" a neatly suited guy asked his companion, pulling his shades down a tad to read 'Ichiraku Ramen,' on the curtains of the shop.

"Yes, the one that 'The Eater' couldn't down the other day," replied his accomplice.

"Huh, doesn't seem intimidating."

"Perhaps not."

"Well, Kenji, I've already declared this my next conquered challenge meal, so it's time to start preparing."

"Yes, sir."

"This so called 'Eater' and I have been in competition for a long time in the professional eating career. He and I have gone through the same number of challenge foods, from disgusting to spicy and back. If I can beat him in something that he couldn't finish, then I'd become the top professional eater," said the suited man. "Then I'd get way more commissions to critique food and be invited to so many more banquets than 'The Eater' is invited to right now. And eventually, I will overtake him in his own business!"

"Sounds like a great plan, boss."

"Of course, Kenji."

"After all, you are 'Ravenous.'"

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><p><strong>Chapter's over; y'all know what to do.<strong>


	4. Simmering on a Low Heat

**Thank you my supportive and consistent readers! I see you!**

* * *

><p>"And then, you just slice them! How difficult is any of that?"<p>

Naruto put his hands up in defense. "I-I just wanted to make sure!"

"Bah, nonsense…" and then she noticed he was cutting the carrots in the wrong direction. "NARUTOOO! Like _this!_" And she took the knife from him and started to cut the carrots the way she wanted them.

"Then I'll help you with the cucumber," and Naruto took hold of the green vegetable and started to slice.

"BAKA! Not that way!" she yelled, coming at him with a knife in her right hand, orange carrot slices stuck to it.

"I'm just cutting it like how you told me to!"

"Idiot! That's how you cut _carrots, _not _cucumbers!"_

"It doesn't matter that much, does it?"

"Of course it does!"

"It's just all going to be eaten at the end, isn't it?"

"...Okay then, no ramen for your lunch break."

"AH! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…"

**thenextday**

Of course, Ayame was a morning person. She loved the quiet peace and rising sun.

She just hated winter mornings.

"Ah, 'tou-san," she sighed, pulling on a long-sleeved shirt and whisking the cold air away from her bare skin. "I never understood why you were so eager to wake up so early when Ichiraku doesn't even open until around noon."

But she did:

"_There's so much work to do in the morning! Every restaurant's day begins at the whip of dawn! Especially for us because we have to make orders quick, and if our orders are quick, then our preparation is longer, so of course we have to wake up at six in the morning!"_

"_But we always have time left over to just sit there and do nothing," Ayame reasoned. "I'd rather spend an extra hour sleeping in bed."_

"_If I didn't have any help from you, I wouldn't be done with the preparations," her father replied._

_That pressed Ayame's mouth closed._

"_And besides, since the rest of the day is all work, I very much rather enjoy this hour of rest where I can sit and silently think about many things. I can even spend some time with my daughter!"_

She sighed as she stepped out into the fresh and crunchy snow, making her way to Ichiraku, which actually wasn't that far away from home.

Even from this distance, she could see that the lights in the restaurant were on.

The last time the lights were on when she wasn't there, there was a break-in, and Ayame had gone in, thinking she had just simply forgotten to turn off the lights the other night. Defenseless, she let them take what money was there and the bandits ran off.

That morning she didn't have anyone to call on. That morning she wasn't prepared.

Ayame quickly grabbed a broom that she had leaned on the outside of Ichiraku and walked over to the backdoor of the restaurant, pressing her ear against the door.

She heard all sorts of clattering, heard every drawer being open and closed.

"Where is it?" a frustrated voice yelled.

Shit, shit, shit, shit! They were looking for the money!

She had changed the money's location to avoid the same burglars coming in again and knowing where the money was from last time!

"I'm going to kill her when she gets here," another voice muttered.

Her heart was pounding out of her chest, and cold sweat made the broomstick in her hand a bit slippery. Despite the cold, she was flushing with nervousness, and her breathing became irregular.

Taking one or two deep breaths with her eyes closed, she quickly kicked the door open with her right leg and took a defensive stance as she stepped into the restaurant.

"Shit!"

"Who—"

"Wha—"

"N-Naruto?"

"Ayame-chan?"

Her grip on the broomstick relaxed, and her nerves loosened.

"You were going to hit me with that?"

"Well I…I didn't know! I thought you were…I don't know," she excused herself. "I thought you were a burglar or something." And she gave him a weakened laugh.

What a fright.

"I just wanted to help you get a headstart on the day," he explained. "I'm helping you, remember?"

She couldn't help give him a big smile.

**lateron**

"Two seafood ramen with eel on the side!" Naruto called into the kitchen.

"Coming very soon!" and she passed the two bowls over to Naruto.

Out of curiousity and with nothing better to do, she went out to greet the two customers that had ordered—she had never heard this order before…perhaps they were new regulars? They must have been together too, if they ordered the same thing. Perhaps a couple? Or some very good best friends that had similar tastes?

She burst out of the kitchen and greeted, "Good afternoon!"

Only seeing one customer at the counter, she realized that it was just one person that was ordering twice, whether to eat all at once or to save one for later—

"Naruto?" she exclaimed when she saw a bowl of soup in his hands, a bit of vegetable stuck to his cheek and a noodle falling out between his lips.

He gave her a sheepish smile.

**afterwards**

"Here," Ayame said, bent over and walking fast with a large bowl of dough and slamming it on the nearest clear counter. A few clouds of flour poofed out of the bowl. "Here's something you can put your 'masculine' strength and anger into."

Naruto stepped over to Ayame's side. "Alright, what am I doing?" But he interrupted that question with another thought. "Wait, why did you say masculine so emphatically?"

She decided to answer only the first question, sprinkling some flour onto the counter and then flipping the bowl over to let the dough plop onto the lightly floured surface. She prodded at the thick dough a few times before looking back up at the blond man.

"Knead this for me please?" she asked, motioning at the fresh dough.

He nodded quickly and started to roll up his sleeves.

"It should be pretty self-explanatory," she added, in a way that made Naruto cringe, remembering his failed attempts at cutting carrots or cucumbers the right way.

But Naruto had worked with dough before—he would totally show her that he was actually useful in the kitchen for something other than being the taste tester. He smiled toothfully at her and stood right next to the counter, pressing his hands down into the lightly floured surface before grabbing the dough mixture and pressing at it.

Ayame was impressed, and it showed on her face. "Where did you learn how to knead like that?" she asked, crossing her arms.

He grinned, knowing that his technique was seamless. "I had to do this once before as a favor," he replied, though it was a bit vague.

She raised an eyebrow. He ignored her silent inquiry and continued to knead the dough. Ayame looked over at her boiling soup and figured it wasn't just ready to add in the vegetables just yet, and so returned to standing at the counter by Naruto once again.

"What favor?" she finally asked out loud.

Naruto shrugged the question off, and Ayame clicked her tongue at him. "You need more flour," she motioned towards the dough.

He raised a hand up to fetch the dough on the second shelf, letting the dough go limp for a few seconds before setting the bag of flour down onto the counter. He pulled the flour bag open, peering in, but unfortunately, the flour inside the bag hadn't settled yet, and a cloud of white attacked his face.

Ayame stifled a laugh as he lifted his head towards her, looking like a ghost. Clearly soured, Naruto sputtered some flour off his lip and went over to the sink to wash the mess off himself.

"The last time I reached up to get flour, I spilled it," Naruto confessed, drying his hands.

"Ah," Ayame said. "Did the person you were helping out make you use all that flour you spilled then? You must have been the bakery all that day."

He looked at her with a scowl. "All you restaurant managers think the same sadistic way."

**momentslater**

"Neh, Ayame-chan," Naruto poked her in the arm.

"What," she said, a bit bothered.

Naruto had indeed improved in his culinary techniques, but he was still unable to do some of the simplest things that would actually help.

"What now, Naruto?"

"You should tell me how you make that Chili Combo Knockout soup!" he exclaimed.

She said nothing at first, but then blew up.

"Me? Give you a recipe that has been guarded by my family for years? You must be kidding me."

"Well, I mean, I saw how your fingers got kinda inflamed after picking the chilis for that soup. I can at least help you out with that, right? You don't like it when your fingers get inflamed, right?"

"Don't even try to persuade me. I'm just going to get even angrier."

**dayspass**

"It's _your _turn to do the dishes," Naruto insisted.

"No, just do it again, I mean, there weren't as many dishes yesterday as there were the day before when I was washing."

"…that's not an excuse."

"Hey," Ayame said, shaking a spoon at him. "You're here to _help _me, sou da yo ne?"

"Ayame-chan…"

"Well?"

"I shouldn't have even offered to help in the first place."

"Then I'm not letting you eat ramen here anymore," Ayame folded her arms together. "I mean it's enough that I let you eat food while it's not too busy here."

"You drive me like a slave, Ayame-chan…" Naruto whined.

Ayame rolled her eyes and held her silence, but neither of them made any move toward the dishes. After a while, however, Ayame breathed out heavily and reach over for one of the dirty dishes, giving in to the work.

She was surprised, however, that the dish was soft and warm, and then realized it had knuckles.

Ayame looked up towards Naruto, who wore a faint smile.

"I'll do this," he said, after a moment of eye contact with her, taking her wrist with a free hand and picking it up off his hand.

**itsgonnabeme**

"Here's the ice you requested, sir," said the waitress.

"Thank you," said he, in a crisp black suit and tie, lifting the cup of ice to his mouth to catch an ice cube on his tongue. His shades lifted a bit, and the waitress gasped upon seeing the man's identity.

"T-t-the Ravenous!" the waitress exclaimed in a squeak.

A smirk traveled across the man's face as he placed the glass down. He pushed his shades down a bit to look at the waitress from the top of the rims. "Ah, so you do know who I am," he said.

The waitress was still flustered. "I-I will get the manager!" and quickly commenced to run off, but she was caught by the wrist, and her ear brought down next to his mouth.

"Do you know why I asked for ice?"

The waitress, panicked, shook her head.

"Do you know what ice can do for the tongue?"

The waitress continued to shake her head, looking as though she was about to burst into tears.

"Ice," he began slowly, "can numb the tongue of any bad or spicy flavors."

* * *

><p><strong>Well then, that's it for this chapter! Please do review!<strong>

**thir13enth**


	5. Sugar and Spice Makes Everything Nice?

**So for those of you interested in more Ayame, I have a one-shot from a while ago called **_**Wrong Order**_**, which involves Kakashi! Check that story out and tell me what you think, and that way there's more for you to read. Win-win :)**

**Sorry it's taken me a while to update, but I'm trying to push out of my procrastination habits!**

* * *

><p>Naruto's curiosity wasn't going to let go. He wanted to know about the Chili Combo Knockout, and he thought he well deserved to know the recipe now, especially after having helped Ayame in the kitchen for so long. It wasn't like he was going to spread the secret or anything—he just wanted to know what exactly was in that spectacular soup and wanted to know why it was that no one was ever able to replicate the recipe.<p>

He was pretty sure that there was a special ingredient upstairs however, behind that locked door (he knew, because he had tried to get upstairs where Ayame went and ended up at a dead end). But whatever it was, Ayame always went upstairs at least once a day to do _something_ that had to be related to the Chili Combo Knockout.

"So what are you doing up there? Need some help?" asked Naruto when he noticed that she was starting to head up the mysterious flight of stairs.

She shook her head a light no and gave him a knowing smile.

"Aw, come on, I _still _don't get to join in on the fun?"

"With time," she promised and quickly made her way up the stairs, occasionally looking behind her to ensure that he wasn't following her up the flight.

Instead, he placed a permanent pout on his face.

**divider**

"Shiitake and bamboo shoots—no meat, please—I'm vegetarian!"

"Ah, how is that going for you?" Naruto said, mentally taking note of the order while leaning over the counter to observe the rather muscle-bulky man, someone he did not expect to be a vegetarian.

"Wonderfully!" replied the man with much gusto. "I've never felt healthier in my life, and this switch was definitely meant for me."

"But you don't miss meat at all?"

"Not even after seven years," confirmed the macho man.

"As long as you're happy," and Naruto went ahead back inside the kitchen. "Ayame, what do I do for the vegetarian ones, again?"

Swiping her brow with the back of her hand, she replied, "Use the veggie broth instead of the meat broth."

"Right," he replied and threw some noodles into a bowl before pouring the hot broth over it. Returning to the counter, after garnishing the soup with mushroom and the desired bamboo shoots, he served the buff man and leaned back on the counter for the next order to come.

The customer sniffed once, twice, and then devoured the bowl. "Ohh, delicious—Ichiraku never does disappoint, huh?"

Naruto shook his head in agreement. "Never has, and never will."

"This has been the best stuff I've eaten in a while. A _long _while—I should have come here a long time ago!"

"You mean you've never been here before?"

"No, not until that food guy came by the other day and couldn't defeat the Chili Combo Knockout soup. I thought I might give this ramen shop a chance, if it was so good that it beat a critic!"

The blond pulled a smile together. "Ah yes. I heard about that."

"He did the business good, I think—I mean, now _everyone's _talking about Ichiraku."

Naruto lowered his head and smiled to himself. _Well that's how I'm going to pay back the old man, then, _he thought. Looking up, he saluted the customer, figuring it was better to keep his smile hidden and said, "I'm going to go to the back and see what's up in the kitchen, then. Leaving you so you can enjoy your meal."

Ayame didn't notice Naruto when he walked back into the kitchen over the bubbling soups and her hard flour pounding. He couldn't help but admire all the effort and work that she was putting into her food.

_I was once a food critic, huh, _he thought and then felt a tug of regret that he so abrasively talked about food and its negative qualities that he never stopped to think about how much work a person put into it. And he had judged harshly on many people's generational and family recipes—man, he was insulting people's ancestors. Now that he thought about it, he couldn't figure out how he never felt any sympathy after leaving a restaurant with his ratings.

He squeezed his left bicep with his right hand. _Well, I'm turning a new page, _he decided, and when he opened his eyes again, he saw Ayame again, still working at the flour noodles. He smiled, again, and when he looked up he saw her glaring.

"And what are you smiling about, Naruto? You have time to smile in the kitchen?" she asked furiously, punching at the dough. "I should put you to more work!"

His hands up in surrender, he excused, "Ah no, no, I was just…I was just admiring how much work you put into…the food."

Ayame's punching stopped and she gave him a smile. Walking over toward him, she placed her floured hands lightly on his face, pulling his head down toward her. He was surprised, and closed his eyes in anticipation—

"Ah, what the fuck!" he asked, covering his slapped cheek.

"We're so busy, you shouldn't even have time to be staring at me!" she scolded, and turned away.

He swore saw a blush across her face, but she quickly changed the subject. "Did you serve the vegetarian guy?"

"Yup, using the veggie broth in that big black pot over there."

Her flour work stopped once again. "You used the broth in the black pot?"

"Yes, and?"

She sighed. "Naruto…that was the _meat_ broth. You still got it wrong, even after days of working here! I don't believe it, you're-!"

"Sh!" he told her urgently, pressing a finger to her lips and motioning towards the counter. "He's still eating!"

Eyebrows furrowed, she whispered, "Did he say anything?"

"Said it was the best thing he'd ever eaten in a long while."

She half curled up in laughter, slowly falling to the floor and Naruto couldn't help but follow her down. They silenced each other's chuckles, but to no avail, making each other laugh even more. When she finally stopped laughing, noticing that he was holding her against him to keep her from rolling over the floor, she gave him a soft smile and then stood up, mussing up his blond hair before returning to the counter to clean up.

**divider**

Well if she wasn't going to give him the secret, then he'd have to find it out for himself, right?

After calculating precisely the window that the "secret room" should have, he decided to take his chances at climbing up there to see what was in there. Telling Ayame he was taking a bathroom break while he knew she was busy taking orders in the front, he quickly rushed off to fetch the ladder that he had hid behind the tree the night before and started to move up the rungs.

_Just a little more_, he thought to himself before his eyes reached the appropriate height to press his forehead onto the glass to look into the window.

The room inside was dark, and it took Naruto a full minute or two to adjust to the light level before he actually saw anything.

And what he saw was not what he had been hoping to see.

"NARUTO!" and he could hear her voice loudly and clearly even through the thick glass.

"Oh shit, shit, shit," he cursed, stepping back and practically falling off the ladder before remembering he wasn't quite on ground level. The rungs chattered as he quickly made his way down with more speed than carefulness.

The remainder of the day wasn't too enjoyable—she refused to talk to him, sometimes muttering incoherent sentences about 'trust' and 'honor.'

Mouth twisted in shame, he decided that he was going to be extremely awesome in the kitchen to make up for it, hoping that she'd notice that he was chopping vegetables at twice the speed, being extra friendly to the customers, and washing dishes to purity like-new.

_And_ he was going to prepare the broth.

And do it _well._

She had told him the secret of ramen was in the love that was put into the soup—each bowl, each sip should be better than the next. Ramen was a gift from the cook to the consumer, and since everyone was what they ate, there was utmost importance in serving the most delectable combination of noodles, water, and spices and a ramen chef had to cook with his or her spirit tucked into the vegetables and meats.

_Well, _he thought, while adding all the salt in. _Then let me pour my apologies into this. _

Her nose was surprised when she came into the kitchen—interrupting her gait for a moment.

"Your broth actually smells…decent," she suddenly remarked, breaking her vow of silence. She sided up to the pot, hovering her face over the stew. Reaching behind her to grab a spoon, she leaned forward and took a quick taste of Naruto's broth.

Her countenance grew into shock and Naruto gave himself a mental hurrah at his success. Perhaps Ayame would forgive him for spying on her trademark Knockout recipe after all!

"Naruto," she said, her face still amazed. "Taste this." And she lifted a spoon up to his lips.

Proudly, he downed the entire ladle.

Promptly afterward, spitting it all out into the nearest sink.

"Ah! What happened! I did everything that you told me to—and it smelled great, didn't it?" he gagged, upset at the turn of events.

She opened a cabinet overhead, checking the ingredients within it.

"You mistook sugar for salt, idiot."

He died a bit inside.

"And I don't care if you work harder, I'm not forgiving you."

He died once more, an exasperated sigh escaping his chest, his body falling toward the floor.

"I'm sorry about being curious about your soup," he finally admitted. "I just really want to help you as much as I possibly can."

Her gaze softened, seeing his genuine apology. "I really do appreciate everything that you're doing and honestly now I don't know how I'd run the Ichiraku without you."

That perked his head up. "Really?"

She gave him a restrained smile. "Admittedly, yes. And it's been a lot more…enjoyable to work—less lonely I guess."

"So I'm actually worth something in the shop!" he concluded.

She crossed her arms across her chest and replied, "Well first you have to make soup right."

Naruto frowned, "I'm really trying—"

"Hey! Ayame-chan!" a voice called from the counter, interrupting their conversation, and the ramen chef's daughter quickly hurried over to the other side of Ichiraku.

"Can I help you?" Naruto heard her voice ask, as he slowly picked himself off the ground and reached for the sugared broth to dump it out into the sink.

And then an odd hush came over the ramen shop—one that beckoned Naruto to peek out from behind the curtains between the counter and the kitchen.

A smug black-haired man slowly approached the counter, the people around him instinctively moving out of his way. He had a crisp suit on, complete with shades, which he lowered once reaching Ayame. Onyx eyes bore right through the ramen girl as a deep velvety threat emerged from his lips.

"Ayame of Ichiraku, right?"

Naruto's eyes widened, losing his voice at seeing who was behind the shades.

"Uh…yes," Ayame said, her demeanor slowly mushing under the patronizing glare of the customer in front of her.

"I hear even The Eater couldn't defeat your precious Chili Combo Knockout."

She nodded, her eyes still keeping their hardness.

"Well," continued his soft growl, "I'll be the one that breaks your flawless record."

The others in the Ichiraku let out small gasps.

Ayame stuck up, unflinching. "It'll be ready in a few minutes."

She swiveled on her heel, heading back towards the kitchen, but the competitor caught her arm.

"Nah," he explained. "I'm just giving you a day's notice…"

A smile traversed his defined jaw.

"…so the soup can best prepare itself for me."

* * *

><p><strong>Oh ho ho ho! What will ensue?<strong>

**Review please—they're like cookies to an author.**

**thir13enth**


	6. When the Time is Ripe

**Well, here we are, at the end of this long foodie journey! Surprisingly it's only been six months, though I could swear it's felt like sooo much more time!**

**I guess a quick shout out to my loyal supporters and all those that followed and favorite this story's way to its glory! **

**Savor the last few sips of this soupy story—**

* * *

><p>Ayame could hardly think straight.<p>

A contestant so confident in his abilities that he was giving her notice a day in advance?! That wasn't even as brash as Naruto's demand for the Chili Combo Knockout!

Holding her head in between her hands, she sat in the back of the kitchen, her eyebrows furrowed and her lips turned down in a frown. Her knee was jittering up and down off the floor—she had to prepare yet another one of the Knockout soups.

Each time a competitor tried the famous spicy challenge, it was not only a contest for the competitor, but was even more so for Ichiraku—after so long, their legacy, once broken, could never be revived to its full glory! She had the business to worry about, the publicity that the famed soup still carried, her family's traditional recipe to uphold and maintain!

So much pressure—and this new contender wasn't even considerate enough to just land the request on her, instead, letting her brood over fear and dread for the entire night!

The new adversary had probably done that on purpose, thinking that if she didn't get enough sleep, the soup wouldn't have that much of a kick the next day.

But that wasn't true: not only was Ayame unwilling to let that happen, but the only thing that a lack of rest would do for the soup was to make it less tasty—which in her case, she would hope the soup was so spicy that this new competitor wouldn't even get a chance to palate it!

People had been whispering as he walked through; this had indicated to Ayame that he was a big guy with a name. She hadn't been keeping up with the news—she had no idea who he was, but if there was one thing that she was sure about, it was that she was not going to let this asshole of a shady man take her family's legacy away!

"The Ravenous and I have a long rivalry," Naruto explained when she later asked about the shock of recognition that she had seen on his face later that midnight after business hours.

She studied a curl of disgust on blond's lips upon saying the dreaded name:

"Sasuke Uchiha."

"You guys knew each other as kids?"

He shook his head before clarifying. "No, we didn't _know _each other; we _hated _each other—and right from the start too!" He leaned back into the stairs, sitting back comfortably before adding, "Actually—that's probably where all our eating competitions began: back in the Academy."

Ayame massaged her temples, breathing deeply in and out in a meditation while her mind ran through the ingredients for the Knockout soup like a chant over and over in her head.

"We had to be better than the other over everything," he continued. "I mean _everything_—he had to eat three boxes of rice to keep his metabolism up? Well fuck, I needed four. He could eat a gallon of miso in one sitting? Well then, I would eat twice as much with extra tofu and still have room for mochi. And that's probably where it started."

"I-I don't think I'm…oh geez, I have to prepare for this," Ayame interrupted his reveries. "I can't just sit around here and do nothing—I need to make sure he doesn't destroy us!"

Naruto got up, putting his hand on her shoulder. "Hey, hey, it's okay—I'm sure the soup will fine."

"No, the soup will _not _be fine!" She pointed back at his gut. "I mean, look at you! You almost downed the rest of that soup before…you stopped at the rim! I was so scared—and all he has to do is just swallow the last bite! And-and, what if the chili doesn't come out as spicy?!"

"Ayame! Chill out—you have this. I know you're going to do the best that you can—"

"Yeah, I'm going to do the best I can, but what if he _does _win the challenge?" She pushed away Naruto's arm. "What am I going to do? How am I going to live with this? How's my _family _going—"

"It's okay!" the blond assured her.

"No, it's _not_! He freaking came in a day earlier to _tell _me that he was coming!" the ramen girl cried ecstatically. "He's _prepared_! He knows what he wants to do and he's going to do it!"

Her eating champion companion waved his hand in dismissal. "Honestly he's always been some sort of a cheater—whenever he actually beat me, it was always probably because he had some trick up his sleeve or something."

"Well it doesn't matter whether or not he's playing fair!" she pressed, before she admitted the worst of her fears:

"If he wins, it's all over!"

"No," Naruto shook his head vigorously. "No, it's not."

She huffed. "You don't know what you're talking about. You were just like him before…" and she faded off before muttering under her breath, "…all of this."

"I know," he replied calmly. "And that's why I know that he isn't going to win."

The brown-haired girl turned back around, curious about his confidence. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not going to let him win," Naruto explained, meeting her hazel eyes. "Please, just let me help you make this soup. It's how I can make everything up to you."

She didn't look back at him trust-filled and willing to give up her clan's stove secrets.

"Just trust me—this once. Please."

**divider**

"Wow," he breathed, tracing his fingers over the kitchen counter.

Ayame held her own breath—observing his face, trying to gauge if her divulged secrets were actually given away for good.

"You know," he said, running his hand through the soft golden tresses on his head, "now that you put everything out on into the open—the Knockout doesn't seem to have too much of a punch."

She hesitantly smiled. "Half of it is actually psychological," she admitted sheepishly. "If anything, that's the most important ingredient."

"Some sort of placebo effect, huh?"

"That's...kinda why it would be horrible if he won—the magic would just lift and the soup wouldn't be legendary anymore."

"Hm…" he thought, pondering everything over in his head.

Ayame crinkled and smoothed the fabric over her legs. "I…shouldn't have to remind you…but please don't tell anyone about our…recipe."

He furrowed his eyebrows, giving her a questioning smile. "Of course I'm not going to!"

"I mean," she stuttered, looking down. "It took a lot for…me to tell you about this. A-and the only reason why I did was because I…" and she took a breath before sighing, "Well, I trust you now."

The exasperated look on her face made it seem like she couldn't believe herself.

Naruto gifted her with a big hearty smile. "Don't worry," he assured, tapping his left breast with his thumb. "The secret's locked up right here in my heart and it's not coming back out, dattebayo!"

She couldn't help the grin that crept up onto her face.

"I mean, to us, this is more than just winning or losing," she explained. "This is for my father—I had never appreciated staying in the Ichiraku—I wanted to do more than just cook ramen for the same people over and over again. But I've always taken the soup for granted—my father, for granted."

She sighed, gazing straight into his sky blue eyes before continuing. "I just never realized how much heart and soul my father would put into his work—I didn't know that making ramen was a special skill that our family had. I was always so ashamed as a kid when people would ask me what my father did—I thought it was lower class work—after all, just _anyone _could cook, right? Everyone had to eat—cooking as an occupation was so commonplace."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Then you met me—who can't even tell the difference between salt and sugar."

She brushed her mahogany bangs out of her eyes while cracking a smile. "Well, there's always an exception…but you know what I mean!"

"Actually," he admitted, "I don't really know what you're talking about. I've seen you work, and I'd never guess that you pour any less than two hundred percent of yourself into every single scoop of the broth and every single strand of noodle…even down the slices of scallion that you sprinkle over the soup for decoration!"

"Well…" and here, Ayame looked up at the sky's stars through the steamy ramen shop window. "that's something that Tou-san was able to teach me before he left."

Naruto let her have her peace, himself surmising about the beauty of the art of ramen.

"You were the closest to coming to beating the soup, you know?" she murmured.

He didn't reply, eyes still staring up at the ceiling.

When she noticed that his usual talkative self didn't respond with any snarky comment, she slightly turned her head to look at his up-tilted head.

"Why didn't you just finish it?"

Ayame waited while he took in a slow breath.

"Honestly?" he answered. "I don't know."

She wasn't satisfied with that answer, but before she could pry any further, he rose from his seat.

"Well it's getting really late," the blond stated, gentlemanly giving his hand out to help her up. "I'd hate for you to be half asleep during the ultimate showdown."

The ramen girl at first placed her hands onto the table to help herself up, but after looking up at his warm gaze, decided that it wouldn't hurt her to just take his offer.

"I don't even know if I'll be able to sleep tonight anyway," she confessed.

**divider**

She hadn't expected the competitor to come in the middle of the lunch hour—thinking that he'd choose a time that was less busy.

"Hey ramen girl," greeted a low silky voice.

Whispers spread throughout the Ichiraku as the sea of people parted.

Eyeshades fell over the bridge of his nose and were placed on the counter, revealing onyx eyes.

Oh, he was handsome.

"Hi," she half-snarled, but kept her best customer-service face on, leaning over the counter to meet him eye to eye. "Did you want that Chili Combo Knockout?"

"Of course," he smiled, biting down on something crunchy-sounding.

Her nose twitched as she prevented her eyes from furrowing.

Was he eating…ice?

"Coming right up," she softly sneered.

"Give me everything you got," he growled, the corner of his lip lifting.

She saved her scorn for when her back was turned to him—rotating on her heel on her way back to the back kitchen.

But who was she kidding? She was more scared than confident about going into this.

Whimpering, she moved over to the staircase upstairs.

"Hey, Ayame," Naruto called, and upon seeing her nervous self, figured that his former rival was out there. "Oh, he's here?"

She nodded speechlessly before continuing her way up the steps.

"I have a plan…" he explained, stopping her. "And I think I can execute this."

As apprehensive as she was, she scoffed, frustrated and swordplaying at him with the ladle in her hand, "You can't even cut carrots right."

But there was a serious look on his face—eyes set with determination and forehead matted with a glimmer of sweat.

"Don't worry—I got this."

"But—"

"No," he firmly demanded. "I want you out there serving the bowl so that the last thing he sees when he is running out of this ramen shop is your smiling face."

**divider**

She was surprised she hadn't spilled anything by the time she set the large bowl of hot soup out.

"Itadakimasu," the Ravenous cockily smiled up at her, snapping the wooden chopsticks apart.

She managed a small smile—barely able to think.

After all…_Naruto _had made the soup.

Anything could go wrong.

Ayame noted the time quickly, trying to keep her teeth from chattering too loudly and reminded the contender of the number of minutes he had to complete the Knockout Challenge.

He looked up, not seeming to care at all for the time.

With a held breath, she watched him take a whole ream of ramen noodle, tasting its texture and quality.

He seemed to deem it good, and began to slurp.

The ramen girl couldn't bear to watch anymore.

Geez, he was eating without any remorse!

It would be rude of her to not monitor his consumption so she tried to keep herself as composed as possible while watching her family's legacy being ridiculed with each and every single bite the competitor downed.

All was quiet in the ramen shop, and some people from the outside came in to observe.

"It's delicious," he suddenly said, pausing to take a break, his mocking eyes searching for eye contact. And once he got it, he jeered, "How'd you make this?"

She forced a laugh. "It's a family secret."

"Of course," his thin lips replied before raising another round of noodles to his mouth.

She didn't think she had ever seen anyone eat so gracefully before.

It was as though he was taking his sweet time.

Maybe the soup wasn't spicy enough! What of Naruto had made the soup completely wrong?!

Why the hell did he want to make the soup himself anyway? What could his novice cooking skills have possibly advised for him to do with the broth? The noodles? The vegetables? What sort of 'plan' could he have had up his sleeve?

And why the hell did she even _let _him make the soup?

Half the bowl was gone and she began to panic.

Not even a bead of sweat on his forehead!

In the past, all the competitors at least had to stop and blink some tears out of their eyes once reaching that point, but it seemed this dark-haired competitor wasn't even flushing in the heat of the soup!

Of course, he had been eating ice beforehand, but technically the competition started at "itadakimasu" and anything that happened before that didn't matter.

Regardless of whether he had an advantage, if he beat the challenge, he beat the challenge.

Holding back a squeamish face, she stood with her arms tightly folded across her chest, her fingernails digging into her skin.

She looked up and another quarter of the soup was gone.

Damn damn damn damn damn it!

What if he won?!

She'd never forgive herself!

Why the hell had she even opened up to that blond blockhead anyway?

He had only helped her out for little more than a week—what could have ever compelled her to trust him at all?

What if this had all been a plan, and what if, after all this time, he had actually been working with this other competitor to eventually beat the Ichiraku Chili Combo Knockout?!

The soup was down another inch.

A bile began to build up at the back of her throat.

_I'm so sorry, Otou-san, _she thought over and over and over in her head. _I've let you down!_

She squeezed her eyes shut, unable to watch any longer.

A sudden cough interrupted the tense and dense silence.

Hushes caressed the observing audience.

Ayame, stunned, at the change in the air, peeked through her thick eyelashes at the counter.

A look of agony had erupted over the Ravenous' face.

He coughed once more, now holding his abdomen. Dropping the soup spoon back into the bowl—only an inch from being finished—and laying the chopsticks back onto the counter, his onyx eyes flickered over angrily at Ayame, the smirk from his lips now a scornful scowl.

She tried not to react—confused, excited, bursting and brindled with emotions.

The competitor kept a straight face though, refiguring a calm façade once more before replacing the shades over his eyes.

"Well, ramen girl," he said, standing up and saluting her. "I have to concede the win to you."

Her eyes widened even more at this verbal declaration of forfeit.

He smiled stiffly without explaining himself any further and passing through the ramen shop's curtains before completely disappearing from her sight.

She could barely contain herself, running back into the kitchen and immediately jumping onto Naruto.

"He couldn't finish! He didn't finish!" she cried in relief, quickly embracing him.

A large toothy grin was drawn over the blond's face.

After she squeezed him even tighter, she let go, placing her hands on her hips.

"I can't believe you pulled it off?! What did you do?!"

And here, he smirked, poking her forehead.

"Oh that's a secret."

**divider**

She was practically as desperate to know what he had done with the soup as he had been desperate to know the recipe of the soup the night before.

"What did you do?!" she asked him, following him down the slush filled road, her excited breath steaming into the air around them.

Ayame could tell he was trying to hold back a smile. "What do you mean?"

"Oh please," the ramen girl insisted. "You said you had a plan—you had to have done something!"

"I didn't do anything but make the soup like you told me to."

She rolled her eyes, grabbing one of his arms and shaking it. "You're telling me that you didn't let me make the soup even though you were going to do the exact same way?"

After a moment, he said, "Okay. I'll tell you the secret."

She was all ears.

"It was all psychological."

Her eyes widened and her eyebrows furrowed. "What-what are you talking about?"

"Well," he explained, "I figured the less confident you appeared, the bigger his ego would be."

Ayame turned speechless for the second time in the day.

With disbelief lacing her voice, she reworded, "So you…tricked me…to trick him?"

"Essentially," Naruto affirmed. "Did you really think I'd let a chili determine your family's legacy? I mean, I know that you told me that you have to pick the one that is the ripest and that timing is everything, but sometimes a chili can only be so spicy."

Ayame stood there, letting the cold wind toughen her cheeks as she took in his words.

_"So why are the chilis so special?"_

_She hesitated. "Because we grow them in our own backyard, and we've been taking care of the same plant since the Knockout was invented in our family. They're special chilis; they're our own."_

_Her father gave her a smile and shook his head. "No, Ayame, it's not in the chilis themselves. It's the time that they are picked. The key is in when you pick the chili."_

"It's the time that they're picked," she murmured to herself.

"Hm?" asked her blond savior-of-the-day, who had decided it was best to keep her company while she stood in deep thought.

"Timing is everything," she simply repeated, looking up at him as though she had suddenly enlightened herself.

"What are you—"

He was interrupted by her lips.

When they slowly broke away a long passionate moment later, he was very satisfied by the kiss yet also very confounded.

Naruto chose his words carefully, keeping her waist in his arms. "And while I'm not complaining…I have to ask…why did you just…?"

She smiled sweetly. "I thought the timing was right."

**ahappyeverafter**

After sweeping up the ramen shop on a hot summer day, he suddenly turned to her, clapping the brush off his hands.

"I've got a confession to make," he said.

She rolled her eyes. "You're still washing the dishes."

He shrugged. "I half lied about that last Knockout soup."

Ayame almost dropped the stack of bowls in her arms, stricken by the abrupt return of a topic that was last spoken of the year before.

"What do you mean?" she asked, catching herself and resting the porcelain into the sink before facing the former eating competitor.

"Well I know the Ravenous well enough to know the one thing that he absolutely despises."

"Which is…?"

"Tamarind," Naruto replied, a sly smile over his face.

"So…" she quickly concluded. "You added a pod into the soup hoping that he'd see it while eating the soup eventually?"

"Precisely."

She sighed with a soft smile.

"You know, technically, that means we cheated," she chided.

"Well…no one knows that."

She rolled her eyes. "It's not the same—it's not part of the traditional family soup recipe."

He smiled. "Well, we could make it part of the family," he suggested, holding out a ring.

After a wild squeal and a barrage of kisses and eventually a 'yes' that changed both of their lives, they embraced for a long while more before returning back to their work—unable to think of anything else.

And then suddenly while she squeezed the soap out of the sponge, having finished washing the dishes, something hit her.

"Naruto…" she said, slowly, containing an angry smile. "Did you just do that to get away from washing the dishes?"

He gave her a slick smile.

"Timing is everything."

* * *

><p><strong>So that last portion wasn't really part of the plan, but I decided to add it in as a mini alternative ending.<strong>

**Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this story! Sad to say that it's ended so soon-I've totally enjoyed writing this cute piece! Remember…that review tip jar is always open for your comments!**

**Thanks for reading! Perhaps I'll catch you guys around another time! ;)**

**thir13enth**


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